Match Coats and the Military: Mass-Produced Clothing for Native Americans as Parallel Markets in the Seventeenth Century

Abstract

Cloth, rather than metals or guns, was the product of European technology in greatest demand among all of the Native Americans in the north-eastern Woodlands region and far beyond. The textile trade, which had the greatest volume and most significant value, began with units of woven goods as the basic items traded for pelts. In the vast documentary record revealing all aspects of these economic interactions, the term 'match coat' appears most frequently. This English term derives from an Algonquian root word (cf. Ojibwa majigoode) originally used for skin robes or mantles. During the early seventeenth century the English homonym 'match coat' became used for these skin garments, and later applied to lengths of woollen cloth cut from a bolt, generally about two metres long (a 'fathom'), traded to the natives. These 'blankets', worn as loosely wrapped cloaks, replaced native-made skin garments as soon as indigenous peoples could afford them.By the 1670s the term 'match coat' also was used to refer to simple tailored coats that had become part of trade inventories. The development of ready-made trade 'coats' paralleled the evolution of European military clothing. Indian trade coats, however, were not of 'uniform' colour and cut. In addition to the loose coats that became central to trade with the Indians, elaborate military-style coats were presented to selected Native Americans on special occasions after 1700. These elaborate garments were similar to officers' uniforms. The military-style coats were presented only to leaders, and most commonly to indigenous war leaders who represented specialists among the aboriginal populations.